POTHOLE NAMING RIGHTS

POTHOLE NAMING RIGHTS Last week Mayor Daley’s Lincoln Town car blew out two tires when his driver hit a huge pothole on Pulsaki Avenue. Of course the irony of the incident is that it occurred right after a press conference where the Mayor had apologized for the behavior of convicted Streets and Sans czar Al Sanchez ( who had just been convicted of hiring fraud) , and had been in charge of plugging the city's potholes! City Crews have repaired about 280,000 potholes since December 1st, according to city Transportation Commissioner Thomas Byrne. There have been approximately 120 days since December 1st. Subtract 34 weekend days and 6 holidays and that leaves 80 days for pothole repair. Now divide 280,000 potholes by 80 days and you arrive at the figure of 3500 potholes per day that have been repaired. I don’t believe that number and I don’t believe that 280,000 potholes have been repaired. The public has no way of confirming those figures, so we just blindly accept them. Nobody has ever seen a Streets & San employee working that diligently! KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken’s official name) has offered to patch the pot holes for free in exchange for leaving behind a stenciled brand on the patch informing the public that the road has been “Re-Freshed by KFC.” KFC has already done this in Louisville and earned a testimonial from Mayor Jerry Abramson, who noted that “finding funding for needed road repairs is a continuing challenge.” While I think that stenciled, repaired pot holes would look ugly, our city’s reason for turning down the offer is a total spin city lie. According to Brian Steele, a spokesman for the Chicago Department of Transportation, “We don’t allow any type of printing or advertising placed on a city street or sidewalk.” WHAT?? Where are the advertising benches placed? They are placed on the sidewalks! The JC Decaux bus shelters—placed on the sidewalks- are covered with advertising. There are advertising signs up and down the sidewalks on Michigan Avenue. Those are just three examples of advertising on city sidewalks, there are lots more but I don’t want to bore you. Can’t we ever get the truth from the mouths of city employees? The Greek philosopher Diogenes used to stroll about in full daylight with a lamp; when asked what he was doing he would answer, "I am just looking for a human being." Diogenes looked for a human being but reputedly found nothing but rascals and scoundrels. He would feel right at home in City Hall.